Grammar question

[vesperholly]

There is a painted sign (meaning it cannot be easily erased) on the glass door of the building where I work. It reads: "CAUTION ENTERING TO THE ALLEY".

I don't know why anyone would want to add "TO" after "ENTERING", but someone did. I assume it was the building management, which is different from the agency I work for. Sometimes I notice the bad grammar, and sometimes I am just happy to be out of there at the end of the day, so I don't notice it.

I wonder if that was done by an ESL person? I watch a Dutch YouTuber who always says, "This is how it looks like" and I thought it was a personal quirk of speech until I watched another video by a German woman who said the same thing. Both of them have a pretty good grasp of English and grammar in general, too.

 

[Prancer]

I wonder if that was done by an ESL person?

That seems highly likely to me. Prepositions are the most difficult parts of speech to master in most languages. When you see a blatant misuse of a preposition like that, it's nearly always an ESL problem.

 

[Vash01]

I think the ESL guess may be correct.

I believe the building manager is Mexican. I have only seen him around; never talked to him, but I know from his name that he is Mexican. He is mainly responsible for maintenance, I think. Some Mexicans do know English very well, but probably not this one. Not sure why he didn't ask someone to check what he wrote. I think many people don't even think about grammar.

 

[Prancer]

I think many people don't even think about grammar.

I would prefer to think about it a whole lot less than I do. Why would anyone think about grammar without specific cause to do so? Most of us make ourselves understood perfectly well without wondering if perhaps adding a qualifier to a superlative is incorrect and causing others to develop hives.

 

[Susan1]

I don't have to think about my own grammar or spelling because I was taught correctly (Catholic school!!!).

I don't get hives. Mistakes just jump out at me. And then I wonder why people don't care that they seem uneducated or just plain lazy. If you are getting paid to write an article or book, or develop a sign that will be seen for 40 years, assist with delivering the news on television, why would you not take pride in your work and do it right?

 

[Nomad]

That seems highly likely to me. Prepositions are the most difficult parts of speech to master in most languages. When you see a blatant misuse of a preposition like that, it's nearly always an ESL problem.

I agree that prepositions are a challenge when learning a foreign language, but even native English speakers get their prepositions wrong. "Based off of/based around" instead of "based on". "Bored of" instead of "bored by/with". "Where are you at?" instead of "Where are you?" Etc.

 

[Prancer]

I agree that prepositions are a challenge when learning a foreign language, but even native English speakers get their prepositions wrong. "Based off of/based around" instead of "based on". "Bored of" instead of "bored by/with". "Where are you at?" instead of "Where are you?" Etc.

Yes? Did I say "Preposition errors are always an ESL issue" and then read it to myself back incorrectly?

As has been posted elsewhere, "bored with" is considered acceptable by most grammarians. And "Where are you at?" is not an error so much as an excess. Since preposition use is almost entirely idiomatic, it can be difficult to label any preposition use an actual error. If you are going to label something an error, then you should be able to explain specifically why it is wrong and that can be very challenging with prepositions.

 

[Nomad]

Yes? Did I say "Preposition errors are always an ESL issue" and then read it to myself back incorrectly?

As has been posted elsewhere, "bored with" is considered acceptable by most grammarians. And "Where are you at?" is not an error so much as an excess. Since preposition use is almost entirely idiomatic, it can be difficult to label any preposition use an actual error. If you are going to label something an error, then you should be able to explain specifically why it is wrong and that can be very challenging with prepositions.

No, you didn't, I was just making an observation, perhaps not as clearly as I should have. My apologies.

 

[Vash01]

I don't have to think about my own grammar or spelling because I was taught correctly (Catholic school!!!).

I don't get hives. Mistakes just jump out at me. And then I wonder why people don't care that they seem uneducated or just plain lazy. If you are getting paid to write an article or book, or develop a sign that will be seen for 40 years, assist with delivering the news on television, why would you not take pride in your work and do it right?

I agree with everything (except the Catholic school part; I didn't go to one. I had good teachers though). Mistakes in grammar and especially in spellings jump out at me too. I don't actually 'think' about grammar or spellings. Those come naturally, but sometimes I go back to check if what I wrote sounds right and I may notice something that I didn't do right. I am open to someone correcting me if I miss something because I want it to be right. Some people are offended if someone points out a mistake. So they never get to correct themselves.

I don't think people are uneducated; I think they probably didn't pay enough attention to some things while they were in school and it became a habit. At some point they probably stopped caring.

When someone makes grammatical (or spelling) errors in a printed book, magazine, or a news article (on paper or TV) it upsets me because this is what they get paid for; it's their job (in most cases). They need to care more. If a TV station displays a banner that is wrong in grammar or spelling, I wish someone that works there would watch what they are showing the viewers.

 

[antmanb]

If a TV station displays a banner that is wrong in grammar or spelling, I wish someone that works there would watch what they are showing the viewers.

I am not at all good at grammar, however, this sounds completely off to me - it doesn't actually make any sense to me.

Since you're open to corrections, you're welcome

 

[mattiecat13]

OK, I have a word usage question. If the sentence is "Johnny had free reign to decorate the apartment" is the correct word "reign" or "rein"? I always thought it was "rein" as a reference to a horse's reins being loose and the horse able to run as it willed. But recently I've seen the word as "reign" which would make sense, too. So is either correct?

 

[Prancer]

OK, I have a word usage question. If the sentence is "Johnny had free reign to decorate the apartment" is the correct word "reign" or "rein"? I always thought it was "rein" as a reference to a horse's reins being loose and the horse able to run as it willed. But recently I've seen the word as "reign" which would make sense, too. So is either correct?

Rein! For the love of god, it's rein, not reign.

 

[mattiecat13]

Thank you! I'd always thought so but I was starting to doubt myself.

 

[Jenny]

Last night on the CBS evening news, they showed several images with this credit below them: Courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ and Ladder Day Saints.

 

[maatTheViking]

I wonder if that was done by an ESL person? I watch a Dutch YouTuber who always says, "This is how it looks like" and I thought it was a personal quirk of speech until I watched another video by a German woman who said the same thing. Both of them have a pretty good grasp of English and grammar in general, too.

This ESL want to know what is wrong with 'This is how it looks like'?

I am assuming that the person was talking about something in the video, and then going: this is how it looks like... and showing the thing.

That is what I would say in English, I think? Or maybe 'It looks like this' ? I'm trying to think how I would say something like that in Danish, but the sentence structure wouldn't even make sense in English ('So here looks it out' - looks out is basically turns 'look' from a verb into something about the appearance)

 

[maatTheViking]

Courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ and Ladder Day Saints.

Maybe they play Snakes and Ladders a lot? Ooooh, I know. Snakes are like the devil, and the saints climbs the ladders!

 

[gkelly]

This ESL want to know what is wrong with 'This is how it looks like'?

We would usually say either "This is how it looks" or "This is what it looks like."

 

[Susan1]

I agree with everything (except the Catholic school part; I didn't go to one. I had good teachers though). Mistakes in grammar and especially in spellings jump out at me too. I don't actually 'think' about grammar or spellings. Those come naturally, but sometimes I go back to check if what I wrote sounds right and I may notice something that I didn't do right. I am open to someone correcting me if I miss something because I want it to be right. Some people are offended if someone points out a mistake. So they never get to correct themselves.

I don't think people are uneducated; I think they probably didn't pay enough attention to some things while they were in school and it became a habit. At some point they probably stopped caring.

When someone makes grammatical (or spelling) errors in a printed book, magazine, or a news article (on paper or TV) it upsets me because this is what they get paid for; it's their job (in most cases). They need to care more. If a TV station displays a banner that is wrong in grammar or spelling, I wish someone that works there would watch what they are showing the viewers.

Like, like, like!!!!!!!

The weather "crawl" - it doesn't actually move and I don't know the technical name for it so please correct me if you know , on the only station with Saturday 8 a.m. news has each city and then the forecast for different hours of the day. For a month, it said Dayton 4 p.m. cloudy/whatever, then Dayton 11 a.m. whatever, and Dayton 2 p.m. whatever. By the time I'd look at 2 p.m. it went to the next city at 4 p.m. I emailed the Saturday morning weather guy about the order of the forecast. He wrote back and apologized and said he would fix it. It was fixed by the next Saturday. (None of the other days or combinations of hours was wrong <8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m.>). Just that one. I don't know why anybody who works there or watched the news at that time didn't notice. It's a gift and a curse. LOL

 

[Johnny_Fever]

Have you noticed that folks in the military sometimes gets 'disorientated'?

 

[gkelly]

Have you noticed that folks in the military sometimes gets 'disorientated'?

According to Merriam Webster (my desk version as well as online), "disorientate" has been around since 1704. "Disorient" may be preferred, but it's had usage competition for a few hundred years.

 

[Johnny_Fever]

If you say so. I just think its so like them to throw in an extraneous syllable.

 

[Prancer]

If you say so. I just think its so like them to throw in an extraneous syllable.

Military person writing: We have the capability.
Me editing: We can
Military person: It sounds better my way
Me: It so does not.

I cannot tell you how often I have had the above conversation.

 

[Susan1]

I agree with everything (except the Catholic school part; I didn't go to one. I had good teachers though). Mistakes in grammar and especially in spellings jump out at me too. I don't actually 'think' about grammar or spellings. Those come naturally, but sometimes I go back to check if what I wrote sounds right and I may notice something that I didn't do right. I am open to someone correcting me if I miss something because I want it to be right. Some people are offended if someone points out a mistake. So they never get to correct themselves.

I am a major "editor" of my own stuff too (and I say "stuff" a lot, and I have been corrected since 8th grade to not use the word "alot" which I still have to make myself not do, so, no, we grammarticians <I know that's not a word either, just what I was dubbed at one job> are not perfect).

My cousin, Lisa, and I would apologize for having to hurry up to send a long personal email to each other from our respective jobs without having time to proofread them because we had to do actual work!! Secretary brain!

I hated the spelling tests at temporary agencies that had you pick out the correct spelling of four choices. I'd second guess something I knew how to spell without thinking. Hee hee - back in the days of typewriters, I always accidentally typed "Scoot" instead of "Scott". Maybe my finger hit two o's on purpose just to make me laugh out loud.

 

[overedge]

If a TV station displays a banner that is wrong in grammar or spelling, I wish someone that works there would watch what they are showing the viewers.

They do. They're called producers and editors. But since most of them are overworked and underpaid, grammar or spelling mistakes on-screen are usually the most minor of the multiple issues they are managing.

 

[Vash01]

This ESL want to know what is wrong with 'This is how it looks like'?

I am assuming that the person was talking about something in the video, and then going: this is how it looks like... and showing the thing.

That is what I would say in English, I think? Or maybe 'It looks like this' ? I'm trying to think how I would say something like that in Danish, but the sentence structure wouldn't even make sense in English ('So here looks it out' - looks out is basically turns 'look' from a verb into something about the appearance)

This is what it looks like
This is how it looks (I think this one would depend on the context)
It looks like this

Thanks for sharing the Danish expression. It's interesting.

 

[Nomad]

Military person writing: We have the capability.
Me editing: We can
Military person: It sounds better my way
Me: It so does not.

I cannot tell you how often I have had the above conversation.

Been there, done that. For some reason there are people who think that longer words sound more "educated". "Within" instead of of "in". "Utilize" instead of "use". Etc., etc., etc. I butted heads over that with my boss at the SF Symphony all the time. That and her claim that ending every other sentence with an exclamation point gave her writing "energy".

 

[Prancer]

"Utilize" instead of "use".

The first thing I did for any military/government editing job was do a universal replacement of "utilization" with "use" and then of "utilize" with "use." I wouldn't even read the document first.

 

[Nomad]

The first thing I did for any military/government editing job was do a universal replacement of "utilization" with "use" and then of "utilize" with "use." I wouldn't even read the document first.

Props to you!

 

[maatTheViking]

The first thing I did for any military/government editing job was do a universal replacement of "utilization" with "use" and then of "utilize" with "use." I wouldn't even read the document first.

I'm curious - do you have sentence/context where you would use utilize/utilization over use?

 

[Prancer]

I'm curious - do you have sentence/context where you would use utilize/utilization over use?

Sometimes those words are used in industry-specific ways, and then I would have to put them back. The same is true of capability/can. But in general writing......no, I can't think of example in which I would use the longer form.